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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Sky Bar: New Moon (Special Edition)

The Sky Bar is one of those classic candy bars that have been around since roughly the dawn of time. (Or since 1938, if you want to be all picky about it.) The classic version is a bar that has four segments, each with a different flavor filled center. The original four fillings were Fudge, Vanilla, Peanut, and Caramel.

This version is tied into the "Twilight" sequel "New Moon," and features only three different flavors: Peanut Butter, Creme, and Caramel. Yes, dear lovers of the Keeper of the Unicorn Forest, rejoice...because now you can look at your beloved sparkly vamps while eating chocolate embossed with the Cullen family crest. It's a banner day, I am sure! (You know, as someone who owns a stuffed tribble, a life-size cutout of Captain Kirk, and has actually physically drooled on the very gracious Mr. Leonard Nimoy, maybe I shouldn't taunt the Twihards as I do.)

Since I have never had a classic Sky Bar, I couldn't tell you if it is a big loss that the fudge segment is missing, nor can I tell you if the flavors that are represented are better or worse in this version. As best I can tell, on the classic version, the bar as a whole is smaller and each segment narrower.

Let's go through each segment as it's listed on the package.

But we'll talk about the chocolate first, since the same chocolate enrobes all the pieces. The milk chocolate is very sweet, but also very smooth. And I have to give points to Necco for still using real chocolate. It's cool on the tongue and has a very light vanilla note. It has a soft bite and not much snap.

And now, on to the fillings...

The first is Peanut Butter:

The generous square is embossed with a howling wolf. The peanut butter is crumbly and yet very oily. You know the kind of peanut butter found in off-brand cups? Like that. Not impressive.

The next is Creme (called Vanilla in the classic version):

The segment is molded with a heart that says Bella (awwwwwww). This is the segment I was least looking forward to because it's flavored with vanillin (i.e., synthetic vanilla) rather than real vanilla. It strikes me as odd that Necco went to all the trouble of making real chocolate, and then used fake vanilla for the filling...

Oh yeah, how does it taste? Did I mention I am more of a Trekkie myself? OK, it's sweet...in fact, it's throat-burningly sweet. And the vanilla -- whoops, vanillin -- comes off like an edible version of Vanilla Fields perfume, only less good. Not merely unimpressive, but downright nasty.

The final segment is caramel filled. This is the segment that features the Cullen family crest. Texture-wise, it was an interesting one. It's more liquidy, and it's also slightly gritty. It reminded me more of the center of a Cadbury egg rather than the thicker, more ribbony caramel I expected. Extracted from the too-sweet chocolate, I liked the caramel on its own. It's salty and buttery, and if it were paired with a Euro-style milk chocolate it would be excellent. It was by far the best part of this bar.

I have to wonder if the smaller portions of the classic bar would have done the fillings and the chocolate more justice. Maybe this was a case of bigger not being better. It's not the worst bar I have ever had. And I would still like to try the classic version (so there may be a second review in the future), but the Volturi can keep this version.